THE MOST

IMPORTANT COMPONENT IN ANY AGILE

ENVIRONMENT IS THE PEOPLE .

Every month , we pose industry experts a question pertinent to the issues of the day . This month . . . .

EMAINING AN AGILE

1 . Develop a strategic plan

First of all , you need a plan for where your company wants to go and how it ’ ll get there . Develop a long-term strategy that outlines your business goals and how you ’ ll achieve agility and resilience .

What does that mean in practice ? Well , the plan should focus on adapting quickly to market changes , using data analytics for informed decisions and how you can foster innovation using new technology – whether that ’ s IoT , AI or cybersecurity tools .

2 . Streamline operations

Streamline your supply chain and operations by adopting lean manufacturing processes , just-in-time inventory management and flexible production capabilities to scale output as needed .

Whether you work in tech , finance or manufacturing , the key is flexibility . By building flexibility into your operations early you ’ ll be able to adapt quickly to anything the market throws at you .

3 . Encourage collaboration and creativity

The most important component in any agile environment is the people . Without staff buyin and collaboration , the whole thing will fall over pretty quickly . Being flexible requires creativity and cross-team collaboration to work well . And it ’ s ultimately where the best ideas will come from .

Try to foster an environment where employees feel empowered to share ideas , try new approaches and collaborate towards shared goals . If that sounds a little like ‘ running a business 101 ’, it is , but it ’ s nonetheless true that a vibrant environment where everyone feels able to contribute is vital for agility .

4 . Adopt an agile methodology

Which agile methodology you choose will depend upon the needs of your organisation . However , they all have common qualities like iterative development , continuous improvement and customer collaboration . These help you break projects into smaller , easier-to-manage sprints , deliver value to clients incrementally and respond quickly to changes based on customer feedback .

5 . Build resilience

You need to ensure your business is resilient to tie it all together . ‘ Resilience ’ means a few different things . You need a robust business model that can withstand market fluctuations , diversified revenue streams and good supplier relationships .

However , in today ’ s world , that ’ s all for nought if you aren ’ t prepared for cyberattacks and able to respond to and recover from them quickly . Developing cyber-resilience is something every business needs to do and there are a few different components .

First , get the basics of good cyberhygiene in place ( schemes like Cyber Essentials are great for this ). Second , ensure that staff are cyberaware and working to your business ’ s security policies . Finally , put crisis management and recovery plans in place so you can respond quickly and effectively to a breach .

20 intelligent

. tech

Intelligent SME . tech